For a year there has been talk of the possible delivery of fighters to Ukraine by NATO countries, specifically MiG-29 and F-16.
One year ago now, Poland announced that it was ready "to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base" , in Germany, "and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.". Paradoxically, that operation was frustrated by the refusal of the United States government to collaborate in that delivery, leaving Poland alone in that donation. "We do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one", John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary, said.
After the international coalition to send modern tanks to Ukraine, a program in which Poland has been one of the countries that have taken the initiative, the possible delivery of fighters to Ukraine is again on the horizon table. And today it has materialized with a new announcement from Poland. Polish President Andrzej Duda announced today that his country is ready to deliver MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. The spokesman for the office of the President of Poland, Paweł Szrot, has noted that "it won't be a large number. It certainly won't be a number corresponding to the number of tanks" that Poland has already delivered to Ukraine.
Duda added that Ukraine will also receive F-16 fighters, a fact that the Polish government has confirmed, noting that as far as these fighters are concerned "there is no room for accidental statements", in the words of Szrot, who added that Duda announced it "with full conviction, with full knowledge." The spokesman for the presidential office has been more specific about the handover: "Certainly we will do it in a broader international coalition, so that Ukraine can really feel this support." That is, that the handover of the fighters It will be carried out following the same formula as with the tanks.
The Polish Air Force has 29 MiG-29 fighters: 23 are single-seater MiG-29A and 6 are two-seater MiG-29UB for training. Polish fighters are of varied origin. The Polish communist dictatorship bought 12 MiG-29s from the USSR before 1989. Poland later bought another 10 (9 single-seaters and one two-seater) from the Czech Republic in 1995 and 22 more to Germany in 2002. Currently, Poland plans to replace these fighters with 48 KAI T-50 Golden Eagle light fighters, manufactured in South Korea and whose purchase was announced last year.
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Main photo: Hesja
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